Rain, showers in the morning, in the afternoon heavy continuous downpours until around five p.m. As we were getting ready to move a 4x4 came down the rutted path by the boat and got stuck. Just before we untied another, larger, 4x4 arrived and pulled the first one out of the mud. We left around nine. The keeper who lives at lock 26, Sauzay, arrived at 9.30 a.m. and worked us through lock 24, Anizy (lock 25 is an open floodlock) and 23 Saigne. As we went along the 4.5 kms pound I made tea and toast. The last of my UK brown loaf had gone mouldy already so I used some French white. A new keeper, a young chap with glasses wearing a baseball cap, arrived and did 22, Bernay. I stepped off with a rope as it was a deeper one and also had both gates open. Up 21, Fleury, stepped off again with rope. The grass cutting crew had arrived to chat with our keeper. The resto in the old lock house was now open again for business. The same keeper also did 20, Brienne and said as it was 11.30 a.m. as we left the top and a twenty minute run to the next lock, he would see us after lunch at the next at 1 p.m. I went inside and made lunch. Mike put the boat in lock 19, Villard, and I tied the front side rope on the ladders. Water was cascading over the top end gates as Mike went up the ladder with the centre rope to drop it on the bollard and close one bottom end gate. At 1.00 p.m. the blonde female keeper who did the same locks on the way down last year arrived to do the rest of the locks for us. By now it was pouring down with rain. As we went up lock 18, Meullot, a middle aged woman watched from the lock house door. Up 17, Eguilly, same procedure at all the locks – I stepped off with the rope and dropped it down for Mike to attach to the centre roof stud and pass through the karabiner (newly added for this year – thanks to George, it worked very well) then I held the rope while the keeper lifted paddles and opened one gate when the lock was full. She told us she had the last lock too. Made a cuppa as we went along the long pound (4.7 kms) and through the floodlock 16, Coeuillon, and on to the river Aron up into Chatillon. She worked lock 15, Chatillon and we could see a boat coming down in lock 14. The whole of the corner of the basin was free and we had our choice of mooring so we tied up on the piled bank parallel to the canal with bows in the corner. It was 3.40 p.m. The Canalous hireboat that came down the lock moored on the upstream end bank and took on water, then left. A British replica DB called Carol came down the lock behind the hireboat and moored behind us. Mike went for bread, taking the towpath up into town to get two baguettes at 80c each from the boulangerie and a cereal loaf from the Maximarché. He moved the car so it was next to the boat. He said he felt like he was coming down with a cold (which came to nothing, thankfully). I got on with the chores. Mike tried the Internet and couldn’t get a signal so he played trains. At 10.55 p.m. we were treated to a dazzling five minute firework display set off from the château grounds. Mike went to bed after declaring that there was no Internet connection. I tried it and after a little persuasion managed to get it to stay connected long enough to read my emails.
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